Reunion at Sea

A Necessary Change

"It's just a little further~!" Rapunzel said in a sing-song tone as she walked through the tunnels.

"That's what she said about a half-hour ago." Varian remarked, looking at Clyde and Ruddiger with a smirk.

"Well, we're getting closer!" Rapunzel insisted.

"Don't worry, guys, we are getting close." Cassandra assured them.

After taking the rest of the day to rest, Rapunzel had greeted them all the next morning with the announcement that she was taking them to the Demantius Chamber. And so, off they went: Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra, Varian, the Brotherhood, the Millers, Ruddiger, Maximus and Pascal. Maximus was coming along because they decided that Varian's magnificent cape would've gotten caught on things and so he was sitting on his back with his cape draped over the stallion's back.

"I still don't see why this is necessary." Varian remarked. "I got through the tunnels just fine before without my cape getting caught on things."

"Yes, and I spent years walking around with my hair loose, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Rapunzel smirked up at him.

"Ah, but my cape is not even a third of the length of your seventy feet of hair, Princess." Varian retorted playfully.

"We're here." Cassandra walked forward and pressed her hand against the wall. It opened up and they stepped into a cavern.

"Kind of dark." Clyde remarked.

Cassandra walked over with a torch she had been carrying and put it to some oil lining the wall. In moments, the room was lit up. Varian gasped and climbed off of Maximus, walking to the edge to look up at the device.

"This...is...so cool!" He said excitedly, squealing a bit before he ran down the stairs.

"Varian!" Rapunzel laughed and went after him.

Ruddiger stood at the edge, looking up at the panels on the wall. "...Okay..." He pulled out a notepad and pencil, looking at the names he'd already taken note of from when he'd examined the crystal stakes earlier that day. "Here goes." He turned green and flew up to the panels, leaving the others to check out the device itself.

He wasn't too interested in the work of his old teacher, honestly. Working with him, being lied to by him, it had disillusioned him to the mysterious workings of the machine made of science and magic. Besides, he'd seen so much like it in his time working with the man. Not usually so big, though. He glanced down at the others as they all joined Varian and Rapunzel at the bottom, listening to Rapunzel recount the story of the last time she came here, then moved his hand over one of the panels, focusing.

He could sense the energy of the one trapped inside and he felt that they could sense him, too. He let out a shuddering breath, the memories rushing through him, and then he made note of who it was before he moved on to the next panel, then the next, then the next.

He wasn't even halfway done when he looked down and saw they had all sat down to talk. He sighed and then focused on his task, leaving them to it.

--

"How long do you think he'll take?" Clyde asked, looking up at the glowing man high above them.

"I don't know." Varian shrugged, sketching up a picture of the Demanitus Device. "Gosh, just imagining him building this thing...Lord Demanitus was really amazing."

"Yeah." Rapunzel sighed. "Shame he's trapped in a monkey now."

"Maybe there's a way to save him!" Varian said optimistically.